Saturday, 6 June 2009

I was sad to see tv interviews this week with women saying they wouldn't be voting in last Thursday's local elections. Women in the UK have only been able to vote for just over 100 years and it was such a hard won privilege, a battle fought by women regardless of class and situation and with it, it paved the way for equality in so many aspects of our lives. I have trawled around the internet to find some links about the suffragettes and what they achieved for us, especially in the context of being a free and democratic society.

Without this hard won right to vote, this country could not call itself a democracy and if we don't vote, then we are in danger of throwing away one of our basic principles of democracy, that we all have equal access to government. I would urge all women not to be turned off by the political process and the scandals of recent times but to understand how being part of this process will ultimately bring a fairer and more equal balance to our society.